This Happened When Mike Tyson And Jake Paul Met In New York For The Impending Boxing Bout

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul are to fight on July 20, and for the first time since ostensibly the most inquisitive matching in recent boxing history was announced, Mike Tyson and Jake Paul met eye to eye.

Inside the famous Apollo Theater, where a number of top artists like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, James Brown and Lauryn Hill once performed, Tyson and Paul held a public interview — alongside undercard contenders Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano — to promote their July 20 fight that will stream on Netflix at no extra cost for supporters.

The warriors in both matches showed so much respect and esteem for one another. During the go head to head photograph Opportunity, Mike Tyson and Paul held their gazes inches from one another, with Tyson energetically informal sparring Paul with fast snares to his rival’s body. Both then broke out in giggling and gently pushed one another.

“Yeah, look, they call him ‘Iron Mike’ Tyson,” Paul said at one point, “but I’m titanium Jake Paul. I’m going to show Mike who has more power.”

An hour before it started off, the line for fans to file into the Apollo snaked around 125th Street and eighth Venue. They wore New York Knicks caps and Tyson Shirts with screen prints of his face sprinkled across the chest. The crowd, without a doubt, was more sympathetic toward Tyson, who hails from the Brownsville area in east Brooklyn.

During the episode, a 16 year-old kid proceeded to reve that he was pulling for Paul — “kindly don’t kill me, Mike” — and asked Paul what exhortation he would give youngsters with restricted monetary means who are keen on boxing.

Toward the end of the trade, Paul motioned for somebody from his support team to bring the kid’s information down since he vowed to send him “a lot of stuff and stuff.”

Tyson, with a practically peculiar look all over, went toward the mouthpiece and said he was unable to believe this was happening at a public interview (press conference).

“Forgive me,” he added. “I’m an old dude. This is new.”

The host, combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, responded to Tyson by alluding to the draw and reach of Netflix, saying that “Netflix wasn’t even a thing when you were fighting.”

Tyson simply shrugged his shoulders and said:

“It is now, I guess.”

In any case, Tyson was clearly the main draw, at least here in Harlem.

Regardless, Tyson was obviously the primary draw, here in Harlem.

As Helwani worked his way through the initial introductions of the four fighters on the card, the crowd’s energy steadily intensified until it was time to get to Tyson. The lights in the Apollo went dark while a video played on the big screen behind the stage. As soon as the video concluded, a single spotlight shone on Tyson, an introduction unlike any of the three fighters before him.

Taylor, the Irish female boxer who is currently a two-weight undisputed champion, revealed that it was a “dream” to fight on the same card as Tyson. Before the Tyson-Paul fight, Taylor will face Serrano in a rematch of their thrilling battle two years ago in Madison Square Garden.

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But when she was asked about her own fight, Taylor’s first comments were to admit being starstruck.

“I think last year if my family had said what do I want to do before I retire, is there anything I want to achieve in the sport or anybody who I’d want to meet, one of things I’d have said is I’d love to meet Mike Tyson,” Taylor said. “And here he is beside me. An icon of the sport, a legend of the sport and this is just incredible. … I’m pinching myself.”

Tyson said he’s “doing great” but admitted without a hint of irony that his “body is (expletive) right now.”

He has faced some cricism for taking on this battle despite his age, and apparently the vital question in the bout is about concerns his health and molding.

Tyson, 57, has a birthday in June. He retired in 2005, however he most recently fought in November 2020 in a show with Roy Jones Jr. This might just be the last opportunity fans need to see him in the ring. Tyson, nonetheless, welcomed one more possible re-visitation of the ring.

Before all that, the promotional tour now heads to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the site of the fight, for another press conference on Thursday night.